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AUSTIN, Texas - (Aug. 26, 2014) - Construction of
Seton
Medical Center at The University of Texas, Seton Healthcare
Family's $295 million, 211-bed teaching hospital, started with
the unveiling of four philosophical cornerstones that will
guide its operations: improving medical care; respect and
dignity for patients and their families; educating the next
generation of clinicians; and innovating through both practice
and research.

See the new, time-lapse video of the crowd as it
gathered for the event

The ceremonial start of construction drew about 350
community leaders and Seton associates. Many used colorful
"Seton Medical Center at UT" umbrellas and "Humancare With a
Heart" fans for relief from the morning sun.

Media covering the event included all local TV
stations, including KXAN and KVUE, which did live reports as
early as 4:30 a.m. Attorney Pete Winstead, chair of the Seton
Capital Campaign Committee, and Charley Scarborough, Seton Fund
executive director, were interviewed a couple of times. Chris
Vasquez, president of UMC Brackenridge who also will become
president of Seton Medical Center at UT when it opens, did
several interviews as well.

The event began at 9 a.m. when a STAR Flight
helicopter buzzed the crowd, heading north to south toward
University Medical Center Brackenridge's garage.

Speakers included Bishop Joe Vasquez of the Austin
Diocese, Sister Helen Brewer of the Daughters of Charity and
Charles Barnett, executive board chair of the Seton Healthcare
Family Board of Trustees. Also featured were Dr. Uju Nnameka,
an internal medicine medical resident, and Daniel Curtis, a
former trauma patient.

Seton Medical Center at UT will open in 2017 on the
northwest corner of Red River and 15th streets. Across Red
River, on the northeast corner, The University of Texas at
Austin's Dell Medical School already is under construction and
scheduled to open in 2016.

Both buildings will be located on a new medical campus
that also will accommodate medical school classrooms, faculty
and physician offices and research facilities. The other
buildings will surround "Seton Medical Center at UT" and
stretch from Interstate Highway 35 west to Trinity
Street.

Seton, which is investing $245 million in the project
and raising another $50 million through philanthropy, will own
and operate the new hospital. It will be built on land owned by
UT-Austin and leased to Central Health, Travis
County's health care district, which will sub-lease the land to
Seton at fair market value.

Like the medical school, Seton's teaching hospital is
part of Texas State Sen. Kirk Watson's bold
10 Goals in 10 Years initiative to improve community health
infrastructure. The hospital will replace University
Medical Center Brackenridge, erected in the 1970s and not
designed to meet the operational needs of a 21st century
teaching hospital. Central Health, which owns UMC Brackenridge,
is working with the community to determine how best to
repurpose the hospital.

"By passing Proposition 1 in November 2012, voters
pledged support for a higher standard of health care, expanded
services and greater accessibility,"
Jesús Garza, Seton president and chief executive officer,
said. "To help meet that goal, Seton is building a modern
teaching hospital worthy of the world-class Dell Medical School
that we are working with UT to develop."

The Seton
Fund, with help from community leader fundraising
volunteers, is spearheading the effort to raise $50 million
from the community - one of the largest goals for a single,
nongovernmental building campaign in Austin's history. More
information is available online.

The combination of a new teaching hospital and medical
school on the campus of a major research university is expected
to create 15,000 new jobs, not including construction jobs.
About 60 percent of those jobs will require two years of
college or a training certificate.

JE Dunn Construction is the general contractor for the
project. HKS is the lead architect.

Seton is proud to have four hospitals – the only hospitals in Central Texas - that have earned the Magnet designation, the highest award for nursing excellence given by the American Nurses Association.